PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK Vs. ANKUR SINGLA AND OTHERS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This revision petition has been directed against the judgment and order dated 17.2.2006 passed by the Appellate Authority whereby the petitioner-Bank has been ordered to be evicted from the premises situated in Model Town, Hisar.

(2.) The respondent filed the ejectment petition in the year 1999 on the ground of bona-fide personal necessity for a commercial premises, the ground floor and basement of which were rented out to the petitioner-Bank vide lease deed dated 13th December, 1985. According to the respondent-landlord, he had already completed his B.Com and a professional course from London and required the premises to start his own business. In its reply, the petitioner-Bank took up various pleas including denial of relationship of landlord and tenant between the respondent and the Bank. The learned Rent Controller framed Issue No. 1 as to whether there exists a relationship of landlord and tenant between the parties, which was, however, decided against the Bank by the learned Rent Controller as well as the Appellate Authority. Learned counsel for the petitioner fairly states that he does not assail the concurrent finding of fact on Issue No. 1, returned by both the courts.

(3.) In relation to the plea of bona-fide personal necessity, the learned Rent Controller turned down the same inter-alia, on the ground that (i) the respondent-landlord is working as a Director in a Company having an annual turn-over of 40-50 lacs; (ii) he is a resident of Punjabi Bagh, Delhi and is living with his father and other family members and, thus, does not require the premises to start any business in Hisar; (iii) the respondent already has sufficient source of income and is an income tax assessee which creates doubts in relation to his "bona-fide requirement" of the premises in question.